Welcome to the Gringo Tambo

Two incidents during my fieldwork in Bolivia (2002-2004) made me consider how social scientists might add to a public understanding about Bolivia.

The first was on February 12, 2003, when striking police and military traded bullets outside the Presidential Palace in Plaza Murillo. In the village where I lived, many anxiously watched TV reports (often reported via cell phones without images) or listened to radio, horrified by the violence, destruction, and looting. At stake were serious and ongoing questions about taxes and governance, and about the faith of the public in the state. I called my family in the United States and left them a brief message: “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I am fine.” They told me later that they hadn’t heard a thing, and had to search for information after hearing my vague message. What little they could find talked only of the violence, and not of the legitimate frustrations that led to it.

Several months later, early on in the protests of 2003 that came later to be called “Octubre Negro” (or the “Guerra de Gas”), a Bolivian gentleman asked me what Americans thought of the protests in Bolivia. I sheepishly told him that I didn’t think most Americans were aware of the situation in Bolivia. It was an embarrassingly honest answer, but one that perhaps we have the opportunity to change.

When news of those month-long protests and blockades finally entered the US mainstream press weeks later, the resignation of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada must have seemed quite sudden. For those of us in Bolivia, it did not seem sudden at all – by the time it happened, it seemed almost inevitable.

I hope that this website will, in a small way, add a more long-term and in-depth perspective on current events in Bolivia. I am honored to know an amazing group of researchers working on questions pertaining to Bolivia. Each has in-depth knowledge, historical understanding, and keen analysis. While each speaks individually, we have much to offer as a group. I’m glad that this project brings us together once again, and hope that others will join this effort.

This project is described – and the origin of its unusual name explained – in the About the Gringo Tambo” section. If you wish to join our forum, please visit forum.gringotambo.org. If you wish to write for this blog, please contact me. We welcome new contributors of all backgrounds.